“As Msinga Municipality we feel very honoured to have a young woman who is soon going to be representing us in the United State of America. Indeed, Msinga Municipality will be highly recognised, through the Assupol support, in [contributing to] the future of Sesimphiwe Mbatha,” Ngcobo said.

Mbatha comes from one of the deepest areas of Msinga. She recently finished her matric at Prestige College in Pretoria and she has a lot of passion for community development.

After completing her matric through a bursary she received through athletics, she then visited her community around Mashunka where she engaged in a motivational drive among her peers, talking about her life experience and becoming a successful individual.

Mbatha was raised by a single parent and has never let her background stop her from becoming a successful individual whose hopes are to plough back where she was raised.

“I feel extremely honoured and appreciative to receive this significant send-off ceremony by Msinga Municipality, which boosts my confidence and inspires me to realise my dreams in developing an innovative, creative society where individuals stand the chance of becoming global icons. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

“It has always been my life philosophy in pursuing my dreams to better myself to contribute to society and feel good about myself. Indeed, I am enormously grateful for this scholarship granted by Assupol. I am very thankful for the award from Assupol, which definitely will help me to alleviate my financial burden and complete a degree in Business Science,” Mbatha added.

Everyone who was part of the send-off ceremony, including her mother, said that she will come back with the degree and Msinga will be the talk of the town in the U.S.